Page 131 - CW E-Magazine (19-9-2023)

Point of View

Plastics waste problems gets attention of the G20

The issue of plastics waste has attracted a lot of attention for some years now – from civil society, regulators, governments,
environmentalists and businesses. There is wide recognition that this is a problem that cannot be wished away, and the longer the delay in
aggressively tackling the issue, the larger it gets. Multilateral agencies, including the United Nations, have also taken cognisance of the crises
and a global pact to tackle the issue is now in discussion. Now the recently concluded G20 summit has weighed in on the issue, lending its
support to the initiative.

In its ‘Green Development Pact for a Sustainable Future’ – part of the G20 New Delhi Leaders’ Declaration – the major economies of the
world have agreed to a formulate a pathway to end plastic pollution by endorsing, in particular, the ongoing efforts at the UN. The statement
of affirmation reads as: “We are determined to end plastic pollution. In this context, we welcome the resolution UNEP/EA.5/Res.14, which
established an Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including
the marine environment, with the ambition of completing its work by the end of 2024. We will also build on the G20 Marine Litter Action Plan
as elucidated in the Osaka Blue Ocean Vision.”

With India’s dogged persistence framing the consensus, this represents a strong commitment from the government – one that plastic
manufacturers and consumers alike will have to take cognisance.

The magnitude of the problem
In some sense, plastics are a victim of their success. Since the vast majority are produced from petroleum, they have a hefty carbon
footprint that modern society is increasingly uncomfortable with. The material contributes to about 3.4% of global greenhouse gas emissions
throughout their lifecycle, with the bulk coming from their production from fossil fuels (oil, natural gas and coal, in order of importance) in the
petrochemical industry.

But the more worrying aspect of plastics is their fate after useful life. How big of a problem this is can be judged by some numbers. Annual
production of plastics has more than doubled in the last 20 years – from 234-mt in 2000 to 460-mt in 2019. But just ~9% of plastic waste
generated in 2019 was recycled, even as 19% was incinerated, almost 50% went into landfills and 22% was disposed of in uncontrolled
dumpsites, burnt in open pits, or leaked into the environment. According to estimates made in a report by the OECD (Global Plastics Outlook:
Economic Drivers, Environmental Impacts and Policy Options), about 22-mt of plastic materials leaked into the environment in 2019, of which
6.1-mt went into rivers, lakes and oceans. The vast majority of the leaked waste were macro-plastics and happened due to inadequate collection
and disposal infrastructure. Though the quantum of micro-plastics (polymers having a diameter smaller than 5-mm) represented only 12% of all
plastic waste that went uncontrolled into the environment, little is still known about its fate, for example, in marine ecosystems, and its impact,
some believe, could be disproportionately larger. Air-borne microplastics have also been found even in remotest parts of the world, including
the Arctic, where they may contribute to accelerated warming.
COVID-19 magnified both the benefits and the problems with plastics. While the material was invaluable in tackling the health emergency
(e.g., through the use of personal protection equipment, PPE), the quantum of waste generated increased due to their one-time-use and of
other medical disposables (e.g., syringes for vaccinations). The astonishing rise in e-commerce to circumvent tedious (and risky) travel to stores
also contributed to a steep rise in packaging wastes, much of which was paper and plastic. This when overall plastics consumption fell – by
roughly 2% globally in 2020 over the previous year – due to the substantial decrease in economic activity.

Given that this mismanagement has been going on for decades, it is no surprise that the cumulative build-up has reached astonishing
levels – 109-mt in rivers and 30-mt in the oceans, as per the OECD. Tackling this accumulated inventory is technically challenging and
expensive, making it imperative that further inflows are first minimised and eventually eliminated.

Fundamental redesign and innovation needed
While the average lifetime of plastic products is almost ten years, there is wide variation. For example, while packaging applications
are short-lived, use in construction typically last several decades. Overall, almost two-third of all plastic waste comes from applications with
lifespans of less than five years: packaging (40%), consumer products (12%) and textiles (11%).

If the bull is to be taken by its horns, attention needs to be first on plastic packaging. Most packaging are, by design, destined for
landfill, incineration or energy recovery, and are likely to leak into the environment after a short single use. The problem is particularly

Chemical Weekly September 19, 2023 131

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